The Aging Process
by NoteEmmy
Summary: Kaiba and Atem ponder their lives together after Mokuba's engagement party. Prideship Fluff COMPLETE


The sink was full of dishes. It had been since that afternoon. Atem had told the maids to hold off, he wanted to do them. There was little he did around a house as big as the mansion and sometimes it helped clear his mind. Doing small little things, tiny chores. Of course they'd looked at Kaiba. The man had shrugged it off. Sure let Atem do whatever he wanted. It didn't really matter. But the pile was high and Atem almost regretted asking to do it. They'd had such a party that afternoon and long into the night.

Mokuba was getting married; an engagement party. He'd put it off for long enough with finishing college and getting started on work. The girl he'd fallen in love with was beautiful, kind, graceful. Kaiba at least seemed to be okay with her. Atem wondered just how okay. Being the elder brother, having to give away your younger... It must have been a proud moment, right? Sometimes during the earlier years of their relationship, Atem would come into the home office to find files about the girl littered around. Points for being protective, but it had been a little too overtly so.

She was nice. Mokuba was happy. The house had been full of laughter and happiness. Happy for Mokuba. Glad he was getting his own life really started. Settling down. Maybe children were in the future. Atem was truly happy for him. Kaiba had been rather stoic, but that was normal. Even happy for his brother, he wasn't about to bounce around the room all smiles. No, Kaiba's happiness was more subtle, but both Atem and Mokuba could feel it. Atem could feel something else though. Maybe he felt it inside of him, too.

He stood at the sink, warm water rushing over his hands as he waited. Waited for what, he wasn't sure. Eventually he picked up the blue sponge sitting off to the side and soaped it up. A few dishes went by, clinking softly as he put them in the drying rack. His shoulders were sore, his back hurt. He realized all too soon he didn't want to be standing here doing dishes. A sigh.

An arm came around his shoulders. He didn't have to look up to know who it was. They were alone in this big house, the two of them. He leaned back into that strong chest.

"Am I getting old?" Kaiba's voice asked quietly.

So there it was. Atem had seen the question burning in those blue eyes all night. But it was a silly one. He smiled. "That's what we do."

Kaiba scoffed, bowing just a little to lean his head down. "Bullshit. How would you even know? How old are you supposed to be really?"

Atem smirked a little. "You want specifics?"

"No."

Of course not. Neither of them were really interested in talking about their mortality- even if Atem had cheated his own a little. How old really? Three thousand and something. This body though.. it must have been 40 and something by now. He lost track. It was never important. Kaiba probably felt the same. Age was just a number and as long as there was work to be done and things to do it didn't matter. Atem tilted his head back to look up at his rival and lover.

Slender fingers slipped into that multi-colored mess. "Look at you. Not a single grey hair."

Another smirk. "Grey wasn't meant for my hair."

He scoffed again, smirking a little on his own. "But it was meant for mine?"

Atem reached back despite the crick in his shoulders and ran both hands through that brunet hair. "It makes you look dignified."

"It makes me look old."

"That's what you get for putting yourself through so much stress. How many times have I told you to slow down and take a breath?"

Kaiba growled, his hands moving down to Atem's hips. "I don't take orders from you."

"You never will at this rate."

"Perfect."

He flipped Atem over quickly and then lifted him by his hips, moving him back to sit on the counter. Atem's arms wrapped around Seto's neck as they met for a kiss. The water still running in the sink was the only thing that accompanied soft but harsh breathing and quiet moans. Perhaps doing this made them feel young again. Or perhaps they really just loved each other- something a little more unspoken, but understood after all this time. Kaiba broke back first, nudging Atem's chin up to attack his neck.

The shorter man squirmed slightly on the granite countertop, pulling closer to his taller lover. "Seto..."

Kaiba smirked against his neck before biting the skin atop that pulse once more. "Come to bed, Atem."

"I don't take orders either." Even if he really, really wanted to.

"Then I'll make you." His arms swooped underneath the man to pick him up, seeming to have no trouble with it at all.

Atem struggled lightly. "God damn it, Seto! Put me down!" He hated being picked up. That hadn't changed either over the years past.

Kaiba just held on tighter. "No." Such a simple answer.

The steps up towards the bedroom were treaded carefully, the bedroom door slammed with his foot. His rival was tossed onto the bed as he crawled over him. Their eyes locked; for a moment the passion that was bleeding through the both of them felt as raw and as new as when they'd first began this little game. Their lips met again as clothes were worked off. Still a business suit. Still leather. Some things would never, ever change.

It was morning again before either of them would even reach a coherent state. Atem was half lying atop the brunet's chest dozing lightly, the CEO's arm tucked lightly around the smaller's back. A quiet embrace as the two slept. The way they were meant to be. Atem was the first to rouse, blinking himself awake. The warmth of Seto was too much for him to stray away from, and he didn't end up getting very far.

His head tilted up, admiring the sleeping man beneath him. His hand reached up to card through those brunet bangs, eyes tracing over his sleeping face, just looking at everything. A face he saw almost every day, and had for many years. But he never got tired of seeing it. And the grey at those temples really wasn't too bad. His hand reached up through that hair and over, the backs of his fingers running over Seto's cheek. Then Atem smirked to himself.

"Going to play sleep much longer?"

One blue eye cracked open. Of course he'd been awake. One touch and he would have startled out of unconsciousness if he hadn't already been awake when Atem had woken up. He still was a light sleeper. That couldn't be helped. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself."

"Just looking at you."

While Kaiba had known that's what Atem had been doing, obviously, it still startled him a little. He wasn't sure why. "What's there to look at?"

Atem smiled. "You."

Unsatisfied with the slightly mushy feeling he was getting from Atem, he turned abruptly, flipping the smaller onto his back on the mattress. He hovered over, looking down at him. Somewhere in him he understood. At times he would stare at Atem too. But there wasn't really a reason for it. He just did it. Just like he was doing now, he realized. And Atem was looking back at him. Something about the moment felt peaceful. If he were younger he might have resisted immediately. Now he just quietly accepted it.

Atem was the one to break it, leaning up for a kiss. Another quiet acceptance. This kiss wasn't rushed or filled with the promise of sex. It just was what it was. Kaiba found himself more and more lulling into quiet acceptance of Atem's actions lately. Maybe he really was getting old.

"Are you going to work?" The question was quiet, against his lips as Atem whispered it.

"You want to get rid of me that bad?" A smirk against those lips of his lover.

Atem kissed him again before speaking. "No."

"I'm not going to stay in bed with you all day." Even if he wasn't planning on going to the office today, laying around being lazy would never sit well with him. He just couldn't. Even if those small, nearly unfinished kisses were intoxicating.

This time Atem kissed the corner of the brunet's mouth, smiling still as his eyes opened. "But with me."

Blue eyes rolled as he looked at the other. "Don't get so sentimental about it."

"Or what?" A smirk now.

Kaiba pressed down on his shoulders, leading him back towards the bed. "Or I will make you stay in bed all day while I go be a productive member of society."

"How might you accomplish that?" His hands ran down over Seto's chest.

He growled lightly, leaning in more. "You know exactly how."

One arm looped loosely around Seto's shoulders, the other hand going into his hair again. A soft smile. "Age makes no difference to you if you can still go on like this."

Kaiba blinked, confused first, then surprised. Then angry. "Nothing can stop me. Not even time." He leaned down to kiss Atem hard.

A quiet moan as his tongue met with Seto's, arching into the man's body. He felt warm. When they parted he was panting, but smiling. His eyes locked with Seto's. "I already knew that." Just making sure that Seto didn't doubt it, either.


End file.
